Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
- That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
- We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
- On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Wisdom Ferry (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Wisdom Ferry. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Wisdom Ferry is located in Etowah County.
To see how the shape of Alabama's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.
Below are the counties that are near Wisdom Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wisdom Ferry:
- Etowah County (The home county of Wisdom Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Gadsden
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- East Gadsden
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
- Black Creek Falls ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Black Creek Falls is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek Falls
- Alabama City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Alabama City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama City
- Burns Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Burns Park is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Park
- Edwardsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Edwardsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Bennettsville ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bennettsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsville
- Reece City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Reece City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reece City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Rainbow City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Glencoe
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Attalla
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Crudup
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Anderson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Bird ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Highmound
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Snead
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Taits Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Wynnville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Straight Mountain
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Appalachian
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Appalachian is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appalachian
- Hoods Crossroads
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- McLarty
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Clarence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Fridays Crossing
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Highland Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Highland Lake is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Susan Moore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Southside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oak Level
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Cochran Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Colvins Gap
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Mack ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Grayton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Grayton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayton
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Wellington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wellington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Ohatchee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Angel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Ball Flat
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Leesburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Anderson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Centre
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Moshat
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Exie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Exie is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exie
- Spring Garden
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Spring Garden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Tucker Crossroads
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Noah
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- Cleburne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Grantley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Grantley is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantley
- Borden Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Borden Springs is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Springs
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Rodentown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Cotnam
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Rains ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Crossville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Collinsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dawson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Mount Vernon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Geraldine
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Rogers
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Whiton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Clyde is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Boaz
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Albertville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Horton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Hustleville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Rabbit Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Hyatt
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hyatt is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Bowen ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bowen is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
- Gregory
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Steele
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ashville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Ragland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wattsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Coal City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Saint Clair Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Riverside
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Coldwater
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Lincoln
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wisdom Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Wisdom Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Wisdom Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wisdom Ferry.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Wisdom Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wisdom Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Hughes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Southern Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Southern Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Gadsden.
- The Southern Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Sixth Street Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2297800 <2>
- Forrest Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Lincoln Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Crestwood Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tillison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Beth Israel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alabama City Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Rainbow Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Reid Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Union Hill UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- McCartney Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Continue List (364 more) ...
- Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cave Spring Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>
While we didn't find Wisdom Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wisdom Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wisdom Ferry, with the one closest to Wisdom Ferry listed first.
- Gadsden
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- East Gadsden
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
- Upton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Upton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upton
- Attalla
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Brice
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Brice is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice
- Norton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Norton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
- Crudup
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Avery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Avery is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Hokes Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Etowahton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Etowahton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etowahton
- Coat's Bend
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Turkeytown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Littleton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Littleton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
- Duck Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Markton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wisdom Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wisdom Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Wisdom Ferry ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wisdom Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wisdom Ferry, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wisdom Ferry.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Wisdom Ferry:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Etowah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Cleburne County
- DeKalb County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Talladega County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Wisdom Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wisdom Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |